Waking Up in Vegas
by romionefan4eva
Summary: To celebrate Eric and Donna's wedding, the gang goes on a trip to Vegas. This means...Circles. Drinking. Strippers. Fights. Make-outs. Friendship. Love. Jealously. Confessions. Obsessions. And a drunken Vegas wedding between Jackie and Hyde?
1. The Proposal

At the turn of the decade, things had began to change for the gang as they grew farther apart and grew up. Jackie was dating Fez (that sure didn't last long) Eric had come back from Africa to reunite with Donna, Kelso was in Chicago, and Hyde was alone, like it seemed he was meant to be. The spring of 1981 brought great news for the gang: Eric and Donna were getting married.

"And this one's for real this time?" Hyde said calmly.

"Totally real!" Donna said excitedly.

"Yeah, I'm not backing out of this one!" Eric said happily.

"I'll be the judge of that." Jackie said arrogantly, and grabbed Donna's hand, looking more closely at the engagement ring. "Yep. It's expensive. It's for real."

"I'm so happy for you two!" Fez said, and began the chorus of well wishing.

"We don't want it to be a huge extravagant event." Donna explained.

"Yeah, because you've already done it once, haven't you, Eric?" Jackie said accusingly.

"I...well...I..." Eric began, before Hyde stuck up for him and said, "Jackie, lay off Foreman. He knows he was a dumb ass."

"You would know all about dumb ass marriage moves wouldn't you, Steven? At least Eric never went through with a marriage that shouldn't have been happening." She said coldly.

Jackie and Hyde rarely mentioned the Hyde-went-to-Vegas-and-married-a-stripper-even-though-he-was-going-to-propose-to-Jackie fiasco. But when it was brought up in conversation, it hurt. To both of them.

"I was drunk, remember? And yeah, I was a dumb ass, I'll admit it!" Hyde said defensively.

"But still-"

"Hey...guys?" Eric cut in. "I don't know if you've heard, but we kinda just got engaged. Maybe you couldn't steal our thunder, this one time?"

"Sorry." Jackie and Hyde mumbled simultaneously.

"Oh, and another thing." Donna began. "Like we said, we don't want anything extravagant, so instead of an engagement party, bridal shower, bachelor party, bachelorette party, all that crap-" Jackie gasped, and Donna continued, "We just want a weekend in Vegas with the whole gang. With Kelso in Chicago, Eric and I at college and you three with your careers, we never get to hang out like we used to. It should be fun."

No. Hyde did _not _want to go back to Vegas. One drunken move had turned his life around forever. "If we want to hang out like we used to, why don't we just all hang in the basement and hit up some circles?" He suggested.

Jackie didn't want to go either. She did not want to go to Vegas and imagine Steven Hyde marrying a stripper while she was in a hotel room sobbing over him. "Yeah, Steven's right!"

"Oh, but I want to go to Vegas!" Fez whined.

"Hey! Eric yelled. "Look, when you guys get married we can do what you want. But this is what we want!"

"But, there is something good for you out of it." Donna said.

"Ooh!" Jackie cooed.

"Jackie, I want you to be my Maid of Honor."

Jackie gasped. "Donna, that is so sweet! It must have been a difficult decision, for fear I might upstage you, but I promise, I will look less prettier than you, just that day. Okay, maybe equally as pretty, but nothing more-"

"Can it, Jackie." Eric said.

Jackie pouted, and Eric began, "So, uh, Hyde, man, I want you to be my Best Man. I know you're not really into that sorta stuff but-"

"Foreman, no need to get all mushy on me. You're my best friend, I just kinda assumed I'd be your best man."

"What about me?" Fez whined.

"Fez, of course you're in the wedding!" Donna said comfortingly.

"Yeah, you're the ring bearer!" Eric teased. "Just kidding, you and Kelso are gonna be groomsmen."

"Kelso! We forgot to call Kelso!" Donna said.

"Oh, right, we better go do that." Eric said, starting for the staircase with Donna.

"I better go with them. I just miss Kelso so much!" Fez cried, and ran up the stairs.

"So..." Hyde said awkwardly, remembering their snide comments from before.

"So..." Jackie said.

"Congrats on being Maid of Honor."

"Not like it comes as much of a surprise. I am Donna's only female friend." Jackie replied. _Why was this conversation so awkward? Since they had broken up, they weren't the same, but they were friends. Was it their little spat from earlier? Was it because they'd have to spend a lot of time together as Best Man and Maid of Honor? Was it because Eric and Donna were getting married? Was it because...they were possibly thinking the same thing...they should be the ones getting married...to each other?_

"True." Hyde said.

"Ok, Steven, we've got to cut the small talk." Jackie said abruptly. "We are best man and maid of honor. And with Donna's poor feminine touch and Eric's lack of masculinity, _we're _going to be the ones who have to take over and make this a good wedding. Which means we'll be spending a lot of time together."

"What small talk? I'm always like this. I'm Zen." Hyde said calmly. _Lies. He felt the strained tensions too._

"Steven, you can't forget we went out for two years, so I _know _you. I don't know what your deal is right now, but I know that's not Zen." She said, eyes narrowed.

"Can we not talk about this?" Hyde said, waving her off. "If you know me so well, you'd know I don't like to talk about feelings."

"But still," Jackie said, putting on her coat and walking to the door. "Somehow you were able to talk about them with me. Funny, isn't it?" Jackie said, triumphantly, before giving him a quick shrug and leaving Hyde lost in thought.

"Crazy bitch." He muttered after a few moments.


	2. The Bakery

"I don't see why the best man has to go to this thing, Foreman." Hyde complained as he entered the cake shop. "I didn't sign up for this sorta thing. I thought I just show up for the ceremony and I'm done. This sort of stuff is for the women."

"Yeah, well Donna said the cake was something more important to the guys." Eric explained. "She said, 'at weddings, women want to meet good men and what to impress them by their tiny portions and small figure, meaning not much cake for them and more for the men.'"

"Sounds like a load of Jackie crap to me." Hyde said.

"My thoughts exactly." Eric laughed.

"Yeah, as if women like cake any less then men." Hyde scoffed.

"Of course they don't, Steven, but they have to pretend they do." Jackie said from behind.

Hyde and Eric turned to face the women. "She might be right, but I wouldn't know, I never conformed to her stupid girly rules." Donna shrugged.

"Eh, I love you anyway." Eric said, wrapping his arm around her waist.

"Bleck." Hyde said as they shared a kiss.

"Steven," Jackie snapped, leading him away from the happy couple.

"Too much cutesy wedding sweetness. I can't take it." Hyde said gruffly.

"You're telling me you don't want what they have?" Jackie said in disbelief.

"What is they have?" He asked.

"True love." Jackie said, her eyes sparkling as she said it.

"Two words that are not supposed to be in my vocabulary." Hyde said.

"Really? Because I'm pretty sure they were at one point." Jackie said seriously, giving him a knowing look and secretly praying he was thinking of all the passionate kisses and stolen glances they once shared.

"Really? Because I'm pretty sure you dated **Fez.**" Hyde snapped. He didn't want to deal with his 'inner emotions'. But, he'd be honest. Before he met Jackie, he didn't know he had those.

"Okay, I thought all the Fez crap I got was over." Jackie said, exasperated. "He was good to me and at the time it seemed like the right idea."

"The right idea would've been to adopt a kitten to keep you company! Dating Fez is borderline desperation. It would be pure desperation if he didn't become some-what of a man-whore. Obviously there must be a little something girls see in him." He said fairly.

"Exactly. So let's be done with it." Jackie said like it settled the matter.

"Okay, if we're going to be done with it, then let me ask a few questions first." Hyde said excitedly.

"Do I suspect a little jealousy, Steven Hyde?" Jackie laughed.

"What? I'm just saying, did you possibly think that you could find true love with Fez?" He asked skeptically.

"I mean, there was potential..." Jackie fidgeted uncomfortably. "Eric and Donna were friends first, and look how that turned out. And you and I...we were friends first, and that relationship was great...until the end at least."

There was a moment of silence, until they were interrupted by the owner of the bakery, a good natured-looking Italian man. "I'm Anthony Bernardo, you must be the happy couple!"

"Oh no, you must be mistaken." Jackie said.

"We're not together." Hyde said.

"Really? I see this young man making googely eyes from under those silly shades of his." Anthony said, patting him on the back. Jackie giggled. Hyde started to blush, something else he thought he wasn't capable of.

"Probably just your imagination." Hyde muttered coolly.

"Believe what you want." Anthony said, "But either way, I got a call saying I'd be meeting with a couple for cake tasting, and now I can't find them!"

"Sorry, had to use the bathroom." Eric apologized, Donna in-tow, buttoning her shirt. Hyde gave a skeptical eyebrow raise. Jackie scoffed.

"Yeah, let's eat some cake! I'm suddenly hungry." Donna said eagerly.

"I'm sure." Jackie said, disgusted, and Hyde grinned. "Innapropriate." She muttered.

"Miss Pinciotti, you said you brought three guests with you, so I brought four samples of each." Anthony explained, bringing out the tray.

"Double chocolate. Done." Hyde said.

"If we wanted to stare at them all and just decide double chocolate, we wouldn't be here, Steven." Jackie spat.

"Hyde, its free food. C'mon." Eric yelled, grabbing an angel food cake.

"Eric, don't just shove it down your throat, take note of which one is the best." Jackie instructed.

"How about everybody try red velvet." Donna suggested. "I think it's delicious and romantic, since red is the color of love."

Eric, Donna, and Jackie selected the red velvet sample. Hyde refused.

"Steven-"

"No."

"But, Steven-"

"No."

Jackie wanted to bat her long eyelashes, water her big, puppy dog eyes and flash her adorable pouty face, but she wasn't dating Steven anymore. So instead, she took the sample and shoved it in his face.

"Jackie, what the hell do you think you're doing?" Hyde exclaimed. Jackie giggled. "Hey...this is actually pretty good." He said, enlightened, then turned to her and said "Don't think you're off the hook, Burkhart." He shoved her sample in her own face.

"Steven!" Jackie squealed. "I have makeup on!" She grabbed the double chocolate cake sample, but Hyde stopped her.

"No, no, no, that CANNOT be wasted!" He yelled, and delicately took the sample out of her hand and into his mouth.

"What about this one?" Jackie laughed, grabbing angel food cake.

"Ready when you are!" Hyde said, grabbing his own sample.

"Yeah, and _we _were acting inappropriate." Eric scoffed, and Donna cleared her throat loudly.

Jackie and Hyde stopped suddenly and popped their samples into their mouths.

"Yeah I'm still gonna go with the double chocolate." Hyde said awkwardly. "But, if you guys all want it, I'd be willingly to consider red velvet." Jackie flashed a satisfied smile.


	3. The Bridal Shop

"Okay, cake I can take, but this is crossing the line." Hyde grumbled.

"Hyde, we're men. Finding clothes will only take an hour at the most." Eric reasoned.

"Not with Jackie in charge." Hyde pointed out.

As Hyde entered the bridal shop, a flow of memories flooded his brains. He remembered coming here with Jackie. He remembered how beautiful she looked, as how her face lit up as he told her so. He remembered her rapidly rambling on about their future and about their perfect wedding. It seemed like so long ago, but yet just yesterday.

"Donna, the wedding is in August. I don't see why you chose fall colors for the wedding." Jackie complained.

"I like red, yellow, and orange! They're warm tones!" Donna said defensively.

"Alright, alright, just look for a good tie for the groomsmen. And hurry, I can see Steven walking in, which means if we don't have something in five minutes he'll be walking out." Jackie instructed.

"Okay, let's get this over with." Hyde said once he reached the girls. "Where are Kelso and Fez? I wanna get outta here."

"We are here!" Fez exclaimed when he and Kelso entered.

"Alright, so, you need to get your tuxes fitted, and we must find your ties." Jackie told the four boys. "Donna, what color tie did we agree on?"

"The same color of the bridesmaid's dresses." Donna shrugged.

"And what color is that?"

"Well, I'm not quite sure. I told the other bridesmaids to come at two."

"See, this is why I should never leave you in charge!" Jackie groaned.

"I'm not staying two hours. I'm out." Hyde said.

"Wait, if Hyde gets to leave, then why can't me and Fez?" Kelso whined.

"Guys, c'mon," Eric tried to reason.

"Steven, wait five minutes!" Jackie said. "We'll pick out a bridesmaids' dress.

"You, finding a dress in five minutes? Yeah, right." Hyde scoffed.

"What about...this one!" Jackie said, grabbing the first red one that caught her eye. Looking closely at it, it wasn't half-bad.

"Hey, I kind of like that one." Donna approved.

"Oh, it's a very rich red and good material." Fez complimented, examining it. "And not a bad price for the occasion."

"Well, DAMN, JACKIE! If you wear that, you'll look...DAMN, JACKIE!" Kelso grinned widely. Jackie beamed at her choice.

Hyde grabbed four red ties off the rack and handed them to each of the boys. "Let's get this over with."

"Fez, for the fourth time, you cannot wear the blue tux. Just put the black one on and be done with it." Jackie said.

"Eric, c'mon, let me see!" Donna whined.

"Isn't there some rule against seeing the groom in his tux before the wedding?" Eric said, before opening the door of his changing room.

"No, that's the bride." Donna laughed, straightening his tie. "But don't you look handsome."

"If he's handsome, then I'm smoking hot!" Kelso exclaimed, checking himself out in the mirror.

"The name's Bond." Fez said, opening his door dramatically, "Fez Bond."

"Oh, they all look so good!" Jackie gushed. "And I have little red handkerchiefs in their breast pockets!"

"Hyde, man, come out and admire ourselves with us." Eric called.

"One second, Foreman." Hyde said back, exasperated.

Jackie opened the door to his changing room. "And to think, the one who wanted to be out here the most is the one who's taking the longest to admire themself in the mirror." Jackie smirked.

"God, Jackie, don't you knock? I could be naked for all you knew!" Hyde yelled.

"Steven, I knew very well you weren't naked, I could see you dress pants on. And what does it matter, anyway? It's not like we haven't seen each other naked before." She said with a raised eyebrow, leaning against the wall of the changing room.

"That was different. We were going out. And I was not _admiring myself;_ I was, uh, having trouble with my tie."

"You're twenty-two and you don't know how to tie a tie?" Jackie scoffed.

"I prefer bolo ties, okay? Not this fancy crap." He said, and added in a whiney voice, "And I was a fatherless orphan."

Jackie laughed before entering the room and taking his tie. "Here" She said, putting it around his neck. "But first, you need a handkerchief." She said as she stuffed it in his breast pocket. "And take off those damn aviators of yours." Jackie slowly took the glasses off and also put them in his breast pocket.

Jackie and Hyde made eye contact. Neither one broke the gaze, so Jackie began to tie his tie. Her fingers were fumbling, and she forgot how to tie a tie. She also forgot why the hell she wasn't dating Steven Hyde anymore.

"Why are you doing all this, Jackie?" Hyde said seriously.

"Doing what?" She asked.

"All this stuff for Eric and Donna, they don't want it."

"Who says?"

"You can tell. Donna's not a girly girl, and Eric, like most grooms, is just along for the ride. They just wanted a small, quiet wedding, and now they got all this." He said, yanking his tie looser.

"And what's wrong with that?" Jackie said defensively, taking a step back from him.

"All I'm saying is, maybe you should worry about your own life and less about them." He suggested.

"Maybe I'm just helping out a friend? Did that ever occur to you?" Jackie yelled.

"Jackie, stop shouting! I'm just saying, why?"

"Why? Why, Steven? Of course, because their always has to be something for me in there, doesn't it?" Jackie said.

"Actually, yes!" Hyde said. "Don't pretend like we've all haven't been your play toys at one time!"

"Steven, what is this about? Do you want to run the wedding? Of course you would. You know all about them because _you threw your life away and got drunk and married a stupid cheating whore in Las Vegas!" _She screamed, and meant every word she said.

"Aye, carumba." Fez said from outside, and three boys were yanking at their ties awkwardly.

"Fine! Hyde said, ripping off his tie and throwing at him. "You wanna play it like that? Kelso-used for sex. Fez-used to feel wanted. Donna-used to have a friend. The wedding-used to live vicariously through Eric and Donna. And me-to get your mind off Kelso, and find a husband." Unlike Jackie, he regretted it as soon as he said it all. "Wait, Jackie-"

"Go. Away." Jackie said sternly. " I don't give a damn if you're the best man, get out of here!" She shrieked.


	4. The Circle

"Donna! Donna!" Jackie screeched from her dressing room.

"Donna!" She called yet again, exasperated as she opened the door to her dressing room, not expecting to be face to face with Steven Hyde. "Oh..." She said, her face falling, and she added flatly, "It's you."

"Jackie, I-"

"What are you doing here?"

"I forgot my wallet." He said.

"Fine." She snapped, and let him come in the dressing room to grab it. "While you're add it, zip me up. I can't seem to find Donna. She's probably getting fresh air or something. Too much girly stuff in one room for her."

Hyde, not wanting to get her mad, followed her command without any backtalk. Jackie pulled her glossy brown hair to one side so he could zip her more easily. He zipped her slowly, and could feel his fingers trembling. He was breathing slowly, and was so close to Jackie she could feel his warm breath against her skin, making the hairs on the back of her neck stick up. Once he finished, his hand lingered on her back for a moment, before he let go quickly as if she burned him.

"Well," Jackie said, walking out of the dressing room and doing a three-sixty turn, "What do you think?"

The dress was a vibrant red, bringing out her tan olive skin and silkily dark hair. It pinched in at the waist and then flared out, skimming just above the knees. It accented her petite body and tiny waist. She looked absolutely stunning.

"I...umm...well..." Hyde couldn't even string two words together. Jackie looked at him skeptically. "You look absolutely beautiful. I hope Donna picked out a nice dress, because right now you look like the prettiest girl in all of Wisconsin."

Jackie blushed as red as her dress, and said, "Steven, I, I know your just saying this because, um, because you want to get back on my good side." She was so flattered with his remark, she didn't know how to respond. And especially for Hyde, who was not good with showing his emotions or putting them to words, this was a big deal.

"I'm not." Hyde said truthfully. "But if I was...is it working?"

Jackie laughed and playfully hit him. "Stop it. You know I'm a sucker for compliments, but I'm still horribly mad at you."

"It sure doesn't seem like it." Hyde grinned.

"Don't think you're off easy, Steven Hyde. You think you can just-" Instead of listening to her rant, Hyde took a risk by shoving her in her changing room and closing the door.

"Yeah, yeah," He said.

"Hey!" Jackie said when she opened it to his turned back. "Don't think you can just walk out on me!"

"Gotta catch a movie with the guys!" Hyde yelled across the store.

Jackie sighed, exasperated, but caught herself letting a smile pass through. Damn, she hated that Steven Hyde.

"So, what was that whole fight about, exactly?" Eric said through a puff of smoke later that night.

"Eh, nothing, just your regular old Jackie stuff." Hyde said calmly. Not exactly, there seemed to be a lot of hidden feelings and deeper meanings in that argument, but how could you express that in the Circle?

"Yeah, just Jackie stuff, ya know?" Kelso said. "Oh wait, you don't know! Hey, Eric, did you know you're the only one who hasn't done it with Jackie in this circle?"

"Aye..." Fez said guiltily.

"You never slept with Jackie?" All of the guys said in disbelief.

"No...She said she wasn't ready." Fez admitted.

"Wasn't ready? That girl's as loose as a goose!" Kelso scoffed.

"Hey!" Hyde yelled.

"Maybe she wasn't ready to make the transition from FEZ, random pervy foreign exchange student to FEZ, boyfriend in her bedroom." Eric suggested between cackles.

"Or, what if she wasn't over Hyde yet?" Kelso said seriously, then all the boys burst out laughing, except for Hyde.

"Yeah," Fez said, "Maybe she was still in love with Hyde, and knew if she did it with me, she'd have to completely move on."

"I still think it's the disgusted-by-doing-it -with-you-thing, Fez." Eric said, "What do you think, Hyde?"

"I, uh, I dunno, man. I don't have time to think, I gotta go." He said, getting up abruptly.

"Ok..." The boys said suspiciously, but then Kelso started chuckling at his 'loose as a goose' comment and they all burst out laughing. Hyde could've slapped every one of them, but since they were in the Circle, it seemed risky. Hyde had to get out of their, he had too many thoughts racing through his head for the juvenile Circle at the moment. Wait...did he just call the sacred Circle juvenile? Whoa, this must be a big deal. Jackie Burkhart was really changing him, whether he liked it or not.


End file.
